Journaling Mar. 12

Do this today or later, but do it.  Choose one of the following journal prompts and write about a page in your journal as a potential starter for your last portfolio piece:

1.  Bucket List
What do you want to do before you kick the bucket?  Make a list--brainstorm all of the things you'd like to do, places you'd like to visit, sights you'd like to see before you die.  Once you have your list, choose one that particularly gets you excited and spend some time writing about why this particular item is meaningful.

2.  How to Survive _______
Consider the survival advice you could give:  how to survive IHS, how to survive football two-a-days, how to survive working at A&W, how to survive a younger brother, etc.  Pick something you could help people survive and spend some time writing out that advice for a particular audience.

Sound and the Fury Resources

Here are the slides I used in class yesterday.  If you missed class, DEFINITELY look these over PLUS get notes from a reliable friend in case there were other things you need to write down.  If you were in class, these are posted here as a helpful resource and reminder.

Link to the Google Doc

3rd Qtr Exam

First, the essay on Thursday:

Reading time on Tuesday--15 minutes to read the prompt and source material and then plan out your essay.  You can highlight evidence you want to use and outline in as much detail as you have time for.

On Thursday you'll write the essay in the period.

How to prepare?  Read your first synthesis essay.  Use the scoring guide to determine how you did on it.  Figure out what you need to do to improve on that score for this essay, both in planning and in writing.


Second, the "traditional test" on Friday:

Short answer and multiple choice questions over what we've studied this quarter--visual arguments (you'll actually analyze one), research and sources in arguments, and critical reading (an AP passage and questions following).

Also, you'll cite two sources in a correctly formatted works cited page.  You'll get to use a packet printed out directly from the Purdue OWL that will have all of the information you need to cite the sources provided.

How to prepare?  Review your notes in your journal regarding sources, visual arguments, and works cited.  Read the chapters (Chapter 15 & 18) from this quarter if you didn't read them originally or didn't take good notes.  Go back and look at your practice works cited from the beginning of the quarter or the works cited page you turned in on your D2 to get an idea of the kinds of mistakes you have made and want to avoid.

Final Draft Checklist

Based on our readings of your D2s (and a bit of experience with these papers in general), here is a polishing checklist we STRONGLY urge you to walk through with your paper.  Not everything will apply to every paper but it is definitely worth the time to double-check you're meeting all of the requirements of the assignment AND avoiding these common mistakes.  NOTE:  You should only do this AFTER you've addressed the comments for revision on your D2.

1.  If you have an MLA heading/format, is it appropriate for you to have it?  If you're writing a business letter, magazine article, letter to the editor, etc., the answer is NO.  If it's appropriate for you to have one, is it done correctly?

2.  Do you have a title that informs your piece?  Is it capitalized correctly? Does it add interest to your piece?  Remember, in the real world of writing, if someone thinks the title sounds interesting, they'll read it.  If it looks like something they're not interested in (or it turns them off rather than appealing to them), they won't.  Your FIRST goal is to get your intended audience to actually READ your piece...all the way through.

3.  For each visual you've included in your essay, be sure it has:

• label
• caption (that actually tells your reader what to notice or look at--it's not just a title)
• citation (unless you actually created it) that correctly points back to the full citation on your works cited page
• text (that's actually talking about the image) wrapped around the image
• located within the text margins of your paper

4.  If you interviewed someone, be sure you introduce them by name AND credentials that matter:  probably by descriptors of their expertise--definitely not by their relationship to you (i.e. your mom)

5.  If you conducted a survey, be sure to explain:

• how many people were surveyed
• what ages/classes/groups were involved
• anything else that will vouch for the reliability of your results (i.e. how they were chosen--should be randomly)

6.  If you conducted an experiment or observation, be sure to explain how it was conducted, what you did to set controls, when it happened, how long, etc.  Remember that YOU have to provide the ethos for your research.  If you don't give enough information about how the results were gathered, your audience will likely not consider the results credible.

7.  Consider your ethos, logos, and pathos.  Your research could act as any of these three, but specifically, the quality of your sources and information is a huge part of your ethos and probably the information you found in your research is a large portion of your logos.  Do NOT forget about pathos.  This is persuasion.  You will NOT get people to change their behavior or physically get off of their butt and do something unless you make it personal, unless you make them actually care.  Many of you are missing the emotion.  Logic is great and you need it, but it will not be enough to make your persuasion effective.

8.  There are rules for using numbers in written arguments.  Wherever you used numbers in your essay, be sure you followed these basic guidelines:

• Write out numbers you can spell in a word or two; use numerals for larger numbers that would be more complex to spell out or read.
• Numbers in a series and comparable statistics should be consistent
• Always write out a number that begins a sentence.
• Use a combination of written numbers and numerals when it is needed for clarity.  For example, two 6-year-olds is easier to read than 2 6-year-olds or two six-year-olds.

9.  Make sure your works cited page is on its own page (just insert a page break) and that all of your citations are on it and formatted correctly.  This is a HUGE part of your grade and there is NO EXCUSE not to do it well.  You have a solid resource (Purdue OWL), plenty of instruction and opportunity to ask questions of your teacher, AND you got feedback on your WC when you turned in your D2.

10.  Definitely go back to the original blogpost detailing the objectives and requirements of the assignment.  Read through the whole thing to be sure you have done everything you need to.

Grading of the quality of your final draft:
    A   Successfully achieves all of the objectives
    A-  Successfully achieves all of the objectives with some minor problems
    B   Successfully achieves most objectives; missing something or major problems
    C   Unsuccessful or unacceptable attempt

In addition, a portion of your grade will be for the process you went through to get to your final product and the writing growth demonstrated in that process.  To get full credit for the process portion you need:

• Proposal accepted
• All drafts turned in on time
• Completed peer and self reviews
• Revisions based on feedback
• Critical reflection as last page of your final draft (after the works cited).  Like your definition paper, it should be at least a page reflection on your perspective of the writing process:  How did it go?  What did you struggle with?  What was easy?  What are the strengths in your writing skills to date?  What areas still need improvement?  Are there any things you need to explain to your teacher in order for her to clearly understand how hard you worked or how much improvement you made that may not be demonstrated by either the quality of the end result or the process requirements listed above?

11.  Double-check your word count!!!  Remember that your works cited and critical reflection don't count but everything else does.  Highlight your paper from the top to where you end the argument to see your word count.  If it's not 500-750 words, you have work to do.  If you're under the minimum, you likely need more details, evidence, and explanation.  If you're over the maximum, there are three great ways to be more concise (do them in order for maximum results as they cut fewer words as you go):

• Get rid of anything that is not helping your argument.  If everything is helping but you're way over, kick out your weakest point.
• Get rid of any repetition of ideas, sentences, or even words.  Reorganize your argument so that you can more efficiently move from one point to another without having to repeat things you've already said.
• Combine and condense sentences so you can say the exact same thing in fewer words.  I'll give you an example:  He hit a ground ball toward third base.  It was a single.  He slid into first base.  He beat the throw by a split second.  25 words.  Now this:  He hit the ground ball toward third--a single.  He slid into first, beating the throw by a split second.  20 words.  Says the same thing...only better.  Even more concise:  He hit a single toward third.  Sliding, he beat the throw by a split second.  15 words.  The second version keeps all of the details while the third sacrifices a few.  You have to be strategic when you sacrifice details since they often matter for either style, content, or both.  Sacrifice where you can only if you have to.

12.  Obviously read through your final draft several times before submitting it to be sure that it makes sense, uses correct punctuation and grammar, and generally makes sense.  The BEST way to check for these things is to read the whole piece OUT LOUD to yourself.  You'll be amazed the things your eyes/brain will skip over when you read it silently that you'll catch when you have to actually say every word.

When you are positive that your final draft demonstrates your BEST WORK, submit it to Turnitin.

New Text Notifications Video

Look what I did at professional development today: I added a new tab to our blog. Look above this post to see the tab labeled "Text Notifications" and watch the video to figure out how to set up your Google Calendar texts.

AoW Feb. 19

Today you're not reading an article, but rather watching a few commercials.  Like the images we looked at in class, commercials are visual arguments.  Their audience is consumers and their purpose is to sell their product.  They use the same concepts of rhetoric to do that...and often have the same mistakes.

Here are links to two current commercials.  For your rhetoric notes, watch each of the commercials several times and analyze how they try to sell their product (ethos, pathos, logos, evidence, rhetorical devices, etc.).  Also be sure to point out at least one fallacy each uses--identify the fallacy, explain what's happening in the commercial and why it is fallacious.  For your 1-page response, write half a page for each commercial responding to how effective you think the commercial is and why.

Direct TV Gorilla Commercial

Bob Dylan Chrysler Commercial

Journal Prompts

The Unofficial and Unwritten (but you better follow them or everyone will think you suck) Rules of Being a Modern Mom:

1.  You can take care of yourself, but only after you’ve taken care of everyone else. Don’t even think about going to bed before the dishes are put away, the laundry is taken care of, and tomorrow’s lunches are ready to go.  If you can’t do it all yourself, make sure you delegate.  You will be to blame if it’s not all done.

2.  Don’t discipline your child in any way in public. Your kids are expected to act like angels, be polite, be cute, but all discipline that would actually make them that way is to be done behind closed doors.  If you discipline in public, you will be seen as harsh, overbearing, or unfair to the adorable little dears that “are probably really sorry.”

3.  Spend LOTS of money on your kid.  Everyone knows that’s what shows you love them. Their little psyches might be damaged if they don’t have name-brand clothes, ridiculously priced baby Toms or Uggs that they will outgrow in three months.  And when Christmas comes, you will be judged as a mom by how many gifts you give your kids and the extravagance with which you spoil them.

4.  Don’t talk about your food standards for your child in public either.  We live in a country raging with adult and childhood obesity.  We have elementary kids with weight-induced diabetes, but if you talk about not giving your kid sugar, requiring healthy snacks, and not allowing junk food, you will be branded a horrible mom who denies her kids their childhood.

5.  Spend every waking second you have with your child.  There is not time for letting your child play by themselves!  You will be considered the worst mom ever if you do not devote all of your free time to spending quality time with your child.  Sure, you should work out, make dinner, take care of the household (see Rule #1), but all of that should not interfere with the limited time you have to bond and nurture your child.

6.  And whatever you do, NEVER complain about your motherly duties.  There are lots of women who can’t have kids. And, after all, you chose to be a mom.  Besides, only the most cold-hearted, horrible mother could not recognize the amazing gift of motherhood and thank God for the pleasure of the job everyday.

Now You…

1.  Write your own unofficial and unwritten (but you better follow them) rules based on your own life experiences.

OR…if you prefer

2.  Sticks have long been used to measure the tides.  Long after the water has receded, a mark on the stick—the watermark—is visible.  It’s a great metaphor for the defining moments in our lives—events that are long past but still leave their mark on us.  Here are some of mine:

·      Choosing Central College

·      Studying abroad

·      Taking a year off to go to grad school

·      Southall convincing me to start running

·      Meeting my husband

·      My first marathon

·      The birth of my daughter

Consider some of your own watermark experiences and explore one or two of them.